Chadwick Boseman continues to make a positive cultural impact as a portrait of the late Black Panther star is set to be auctioned off for charity.
According to Variety, the photo of Boseman to be auctioned off was taken by Kwaku Alston at San Diego Comic-Con in 2017 before the release of Black Panther. The outlet reports that the image will start its bidding at $1,000 but is expected to raise around $5,000. The piece is part of a fine art photography auction that will be held on Dec. 8 at Milk Studios Los Angeles. All proceeds will go to Project Angel Food, which provides medically tailored meals to those with life-threatening illnesses such as cancer, diabetes and HIV/AIDS. The portrait in question can be seen below.
Boseman rose to prominence with his lead turn as Jackie Robinson, Major League Baseball's first Black player, in 2013's 42. He went on to make a name for himself playing real-life icons of Black history, including James Brown in 2014's Get on Up and a young Thurgood Marshall, who would become the first Black Supreme Court Justice later in his life, in 2017's Marshall. In between, Boseman took on his most recognizable role as T'Challa/Black Panther in 2016's Captain America: Civil War.
Chadwick Boseman's Enduring Legacy
The release of Black Panther in 2018 cemented Boseman as a global star. The Marvel feature pulled in nearly $1.4 billion at the worldwide box office and received widespread praise from critics and fans, making history at the 91st Academy Awards by becoming the first superhero film nominated for Best Picture. It also remains one of the few Best Picture nominees with a predominantly Black cast, receiving the nomination just four years after the #OscarsSoWhite campaign.
Boseman's sudden passing from cancer in August 2020 at age 43 shocked both his fans and many of his colleagues as the late actor was private about his illness. Even in death, however, Boseman continues to leave his mark on the entertainment industry, earning a posthumous Lead Actor Oscar nomination for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom in 2021 and an Emmy for his voice work in Marvel's What If...? earlier this year. The release of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has also kept Boseman's memory in the pop culture consciousness, with many fans and critics praising the film as a fitting tribute to its former star.
Nick Fury actor Samuel L. Jackson also mentioned Boseman in his recent response to Quentin Tarantino's comments on why Marvel actors are not genuine movie stars. "It takes an actor to be those particular characters, and the sign of movie stardom has always been, what, asses in seats? What are we talking about?" Jackson said. "That's not a big controversy for me to know that, apparently, these actors are movie stars. Chadwick Boseman is Black Panther. You can't refute that, and he's a movie star."
The forthcoming fine art photography auction is just the latest charitable effort with which Boseman is involved. Just months before his death, on Jackie Robinson Day (April 15, 2020), the actor donated $4.2 million in personal protective equipment to hospitals servicing Black communities during the Covid-19 pandemic. He also worked with cancer charities, such as St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and was known to visit cancer patients, especially young children, while privately battling the illness himself.
Source: Variety